Douglass Rushkoff"s Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now

In Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now, Douglass Rushkoff discusses his interpretation of the relationship of society and rapidly evolving technology. He believes that as technology progresses, society becomes increasingly dependent on it and eventually loses touch with the traditional sense of time and reality. Through the book Rushkoff makes several insightful observations about the development of society and how technologies were often the driving force behind these “Present Shocks.”
Rushkoff uses five main ideas to defend his opinion: loosing linearity, digiphrenia, dver-dinding, fractalnoia, and apocolypto. While most people do not consider written language and story telling a technology, Rushkoff argues that evolution of the traditional narrative is a defining societal characteristic. As technology advances, society moves away from the linear, “heroic journey” story structure to “something more like putting together a puzzle by making connections and recognizing patterns” (Rushkoff 34). The loss of linearity produces the subsequent conditions of digiphrenia, over-winding, fractalnoia, and apocolypto. These are all results society’s desire to “capture the slipping moment” (Rushkoff 6) and live in the present. Unfortunately, as Rushkoff argues, this can often lead to “a skewed notion of the real and the immediate” (Rushkoff 6).
I think Present Shock was very well done. Rushkoff blatantly states his argument about technologies effect on our perception of time in the preface, as if to outline his entire idea. He then spends the rest of the book explaining each tier of his idea in detail, leaving almost no stone unturned due to the numerous detailed examples. And, each chapter includes his personal notions o...

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...er for each scenario throughout the book. However, it is not until late in the final section of “Apocalypto” that he offers his solution to the issues that create our present shock. Rushkoff says “the solution, of course, is balance” (Rushkoff 265). He suggests that we, as individuals, find a balance between living our lives truly in the present and our need for technology and media. He describes a pause and un-pause feature in our lives. We need to control our need for technology in order to avoid our technology controlling us. Although the majority of his book describes how we have little control over the developments technology causes in our lives, he believes with moderation we can live in the present both virtually and physically.

Works Cited

Rushkoff, Douglas (2013-03-21). Present Shock: When Everything Happens Now.
Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition.